Israeli F-16s attack Syrian position near Beirut

TEL AVIV — In the first such retaliation since the troop withdrawal from Lebanon, Israeli warplanes have attacked a Syrian military position in Lebanon.

Israeli F-16 jets fired six missiles at a Syrian radar station at Dahr Al Baidar, a strategic position northeast of the Beirut-Damascus road and which overlooks most of southern and eastern Lebanon. An Israeli military statement said the jets carried out accurate strikes and returned safely to base.

Lebanese sources confirmed the 20-minute attack on early Monday and said three Syrian soldiers were killed and another six were injured. The sources said Syrian aircraft guns fired at the four Israeli planes involved in the raid. The sources said Israeli planes attacked three Syrian targets, including a communications center and anti-aircraft battery.

The Syrian media did not report the Israeli attack.

It was the first Israeli attack on Syrian targets in Lebanon since 1996.

The attack came after numerous Israeli warnings to Beirut and Damascus to stop Hizbullah attacks in wake of the Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon last May.

Lebanese television reported that Israeli warplanes returned to patrol the Lebanese skies throughout Monday. This included what Lebanese sources termed as mock attacks in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa valley near the Syrian border.

Many Arab regimes denounced the Israeli raid. But Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib arrived in Jerusalem on a scheduled visit on Monday and met Israeli leaders.

On Saturday, Hizbullah launched a missile attack on an Israeli position in the disputed Shebaa plateau along the Israeli border. The missiles slammed into a Merkava tank, killing the vehicle's commander.

Israeli military sources said the attack was a warning to Syria to restrain Hizbullah. The sources said Iran and Syria have been encouraging and aiding Hizbullah to attack northern Israel.

The Israeli air attack was approved during a meeting of a ministerial security committee headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The ministers were summoned in a late night session on Sunday and all but two Cabinet members approved the operation.

"We warned Syria countless times through numerous channels," Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called on the Bush administration and United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan to order Lebanon to immediately stop Hizbullah attacks. Peres said the attacks were a violation of international law.